Out Of Retirement
by Firebird'sDaughter
Summary: After seven years of retirement, Green Arrow's older brother William Queen, aka 'Sniper,' returns to the vigilante scene. His reason? The return of the villain who destroyed his life all those years ago. But the Reaper isn't just after Sniper this time; he's after the whole family, especially the kids. And he has every intention of making the brothers watch... Set during Season 1.
1. Remember Me?

This is my introduction to one of my OCs. After of a lot of flitting around on here, I noticed there's not much Arrow Family love, so... Here we go.

* * *

**Okay**.** This guy is officially kicking our asses.** Robin announced, diving out of the way as Kaldur was thrown into the wall beside him.

**What could possibly have drawn you to that conclusion?** The Atlantean asked, stumbling to his feet. **The fact that he pounded Green Arrow to a pulp and threw him across the roof, or the fact that he's doing the same to us now?** Their conversation was cut short when Superboy was thrown into them, bowling them both over and back into the wall. The colossal figure that had thrown the clone stepped back from his handiwork, looking around. His gaze fell on where Green Arrow lay, unconscious and heavily battered. He started towards the hero, but paused when Red Arrow dashed in between them, running to his former mentor's side. However much he insisted he didn't like Ollie, he couldn't deny the icy feeling in his chest when he shook the older archer and gained nothing but the knowledge that Green Arrow's head was bleeding. He felt a shadow fall over them, and looked up at the hulking mass looming over him. Muscle memory made him reach for an arrow, only to remember that his quiver was empty. The huge man raised a sledge-hammer sized fist, vaguely disappointed with himself for having forgotten about the other archer. Lacking the time to think, Roy flung himself forward, trying to shield Green Arrow with his back, and closed his eyes, bracing for impact.

"Now, now. When are you going to learn to play nice?" Red Arrow's eyes snapped open.

He knew that voice.

So, too, did the attacker, because he stopped, turning.

A hooded figure stood at the edge of the roof, his hands in his pockets. Thinner and slightly smaller than the man who had just desecrated the Team, anyone else would have thought the fight weighed heavily in the monstrous man's favour.

Red Arrow, however, knew better.

The hooded man stepped forward, and the larger one moved back. As he watched, a tiny, pinpoint of orange light appeared beneath the hood, tracking the giant's movements.

"Yes, you remember this voice." The newcomer continued. "It's the voice of the man who ended your hunting days seven years ago." The first man growled furiously, and the hooded one chuckled. He paused, filching a communicator from Kid Flash's ear and sliding it into his own. "Black Canary? Remember me?" After a moment of stunned silence, she replied.

"Sniper?" A slight chuckle escaped the man on the other end.

"The same." He assured her, then, "Uh huh. No funny business, big guy." His attention returned to her. "I see that the Reaper is up to his old tricks."

"You could say that." On the roof, the big man was getting bored of the banter. He shifted his weight, preparing to strike, when...

When he suddenly found a handgun in his face.

"Are you forgetting something?" Sniper asked with cheer that bordered on disturbing. "Are you forgetting how I chose my name?" There was an edge in his voice that Black Canary suddenly found concerning.

"Sniper..." She warned softly, but he didn't seem to hear her.

"Come to think of it, I still owe you a bullet, don't?" He asked the now-terrified man in front of him. Her eyes widened, and she shot up from her chair, as if that would help.

"Sniper, no. Listen to me. There's a time and place for revenge, and this is **not** it! Let the courts convict him! Sniper, please!" There was no sound but his sneakers scuffing on the cement of the rooftop. "Sniper? Sniper!" Exasperated and desperate, she yelled the only name she thought would get his attention more quickly. "_**Will**_!"

Her voice rang out across the com at the exact same time as the gunshot. She fell back into her chair, barely managing a whisper. "S... Sniper, what have you...?" He heard her.

"I shot him in the leg." The dark undertone his voice had carried before was gone. He sounded relaxed, calm-even happy. "Why? What were you **expecting** me to do?" She didn't answer, too shocked to reply. He shook his head, chuckling again. "Honestly, Dinah. Didn't even hit an artery..." He crossed over to Roy and Ollie, the pinpoint light disappearing. He pushed back his hood, smoothing a hand over his hair. Even in the dim light, the resemblance to Green Arrow was obvious, though this man seemed older, with longer hair. He knelt beside Red Arrow, adjusting the bandages that covered the right side of his face, including his eye. The young archer relaxed, moving over to allow the older man in beside him.

"Uncle Will." Despite his break off with Green Arrow, he had no problem calling the tall, one-eyed man family. William Queen was virtually impossible not like, as long as you were on his good side. Even now, he was smiling warmly at the boy.

"Hey, kiddo." He responded; then the smile broadened to a grin. "Don't worry. I won't tell him you panicked." Roy quickly began examining the dirty concrete beneath them.

"I-I didn't-" Sniper laughed.

"Kid, you were shielding him with your back." Roy slumped, defeated. "Don't worry," Will repeated, gently punching him in the arm, "I won't tell him you panicked." Joking around with Roy was a cover as his unobscured eye check the young man for any severe injuries. Finding nothing that could be considered life-threatening, he turned his attention to his brother. Ollie was in nowhere near as fortunate a state. Sniper had only basic field experience, but he estimated at least three broken ribs, fractured arm, and a concussion-and that was even counting the numerous cuts an bruises, or the gnawing reminder in his gut that people with such severe head injuries often had brain damage. He pressed two calloused fingers to Green Arrow's neck, and found that his pulse was strong. Good, at least **something** was working properly. He tossed his braid over his shoulder, leaning forward to examine the cut in his brother's scalp.

"Bad?" Roy asked, not bothering to hide the shake in his voice, as Sniper had already weeded out his concern for his former mentor.

"Not as bad as it could be, but pretty bad." Red Arrow nodded. This had been part of the reason he liked Will so much-as a former soldier, the man did not believe in any sort of coddling. You could be almost entirely sure that what he was telling you was the cold, hard truth; especially when it came to safety. "This is going to take a hospital trip." He shifted his weight back on his heels, rising. "Fortunately, help has arrived." Seconds later, members of the Justice League descended on the rooftop, isolating the giant and providing conveyance to the nearest hospital for the injured. Superman approached Sniper.

"William." He said. "It's been awhile."

"Clark." Replied the elder Queen brother. "Indeed it has." There was a friendly iciness in the way the two greeted each other. It was a generally accepted fact that Batman and Superman were good friends-it was also just as accepted a fact that Sniper and Batman hated each other. That was probably the reason why the Dark Knight himself wasn't there. They couldn't be in direct proximity with each other and not fight. So Sniper stood alone on the edge of the roof, watching as the two Green Lanterns transported the Reaper away, his arms folded tightly across his chest. The man couldn't have been older than thirty-five-three years Green Arrow's senior, but he had retired abruptly seven years ago after an incident involving the villain he had just helped to subdue. He must have felt Roy watching him, because he turned around, gave him a grin, then came over and clapped him on the shoulder. "C'mon. Let's go make sure Ollie doesn't try anything stupid when he wakes up, alright?" He slung an arm around his honourary nephew's shoulders, looking out across the skyline one last time before steering him away. "Besides, I want you to get that eye looked at. You look like someone punched you."

"In case you didn't notice, someone **did**."

"Oh, yeah, he did, didn't he? Fancy that." Will's cheerful tone made even Roy smile a little, and they moved over to help the rest of the Team who hadn't needed any sort of hospitalisation up before heading out.

Crouched on a chimney about a roof away was a thick, bulky figure. It watched them go, then blinked a few times, lifting its arm. A computer appeared on its skin, and began to type.

'We have his attention.'

'Good,' came the reply, 'Then proceed to phase two.'

'What if he does not return?'

'He will. Even if his own need for vengeance is not enough to drive him...' A smile crossed the writer's face.

'... His **ex-wife's** will be.' After a pause, two more letters were added.

'T.R.'

* * *

Alright-I usually don't like asking people for things, but I'd feel appreciated if people just... I don't, let me know if they liked this. Or any of my other stories. Yeah.


	2. A Message For You

Aaand, here is Chapter Two. We finally get a bit of a backstory for poor Will.

Also, in response to a comment: what I meant by introduction is that this is how the Team finds out about him and who he is. Basically, this is how his backstory gets explained. Warning, there will be torture. Eventually. And I _mean_ eventually.

* * *

Ollie was already awake and arguing with the doctors when they arrived. Will sighed, and, after glancing briefly over the others assembled, moved in to rescue them from his brother. The Team stayed outside, some of them nursing relatively minor injuries.

"Well, that was a colossal failure." Artemis announced, holding a large icepack to her head. Kaldur, still sore from being knocked over with Superboy, shook his head.

"We did what we could." He assured them. "That man was clearly extraordinarily skilled."

"_Clearly_." Kid Flash put in, then twitched, wincing again as the nurse beside him tried to reset his shoulder. She gave him a glare that told the story of several desperate attempts to get him to hold still. Robin was already working, his glove computer open.

"The surprising thing is, _we're_ mostly unscathed. He went straight for GA first chance he got." He looked up at the others. "I don't think he cared about us at all."

"He didn't." They all turned to look at where Red Arrow was standing, his back to them. Even Superboy stopped moping in the corner to look up.

"Red Arrow...?" M'gann asked tentatively. "Do you... Know something?" Artemis rolled her eyes.

"Obviously, he does." She leaned back, trying to fold her arms, and then remembering one of her hands was holding the icepack. "So, Mister Tall, Red, and Mysterious... Are you gonna tell us, or stand around glaring?" Proving her point, Roy shot a glare at her. Wally, finally free of the nurse, dashed over to be part of the circle, raising his hand.

"I got another question you seem to know the answer to: who's the cyclops dude?" He pointed through the paned glass at where Sniper looked like he was threatening Ollie to remain in bed. Roy groaned.

"Fine. But I don't know most of the details, so _none_ of you interrupt me for more information." Most of them nodded and Wally saluted, but Red Arrow still had the feeling the speedster wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut. "You guys ever hear of Sniper?" He asked, and got another round of nods. "That's him." He jerked his head toward the glass. Wally, as predicted, immediately started talking.

"Really? Didn't he, like, retire seven years ago and no one knew what he-" A glare from Roy and a look from Kaldur silenced him.

"_Yes_, he _did_, 'like,' retire seven years ago. GA told me the basics-apparently, some creep calling himself the Reaper was terrorizing the city, specifically targeting families with young children. Sniper, Will... He got a little... Overly personal with it. He managed to track the Reaper to his hideout, but they guy was already out enacting his 'master plan.' Caught up to him in the centre of the city, and they started fighting." Roy took a deep breath; this was the part where his former mentor would get all vague and avoid eye contact. "At some point during the fight... Will's daughter got killed." A silence descended over all of them. "The Reaper got away in the end, and Will just blamed himself. So did his wife-I think she divorced him after finding out." He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Just a week after that... He retired. Resigned, more like." Surprisingly, even Wally couldn't think of something to say. Artemis frowned, biting her lip, and glancing at the blond man through the glass. He had blamed himself, had given up hero work over the grief of his daughter's death. She briefly wondered if her father would ever do the same for her, then shook her head. Who was she kidding? If he actually cared about her, he'd stop trying to make her become a criminal.

Just then, the door opened, and several police officers came in, accompanied by a woman of about thirty with a tight suit, tight face, and even tighter hair. Kaldur saw Roy grimace.

"What is it?"

"_That's_ Uncle Will's ex-wife, speak of the devil." Red Arrow muttered back unhappily. "Nothing good _ever_ comes of her being around these days." The woman was walking towards them briskly, only coming to a stop when she realised they were in her path. She surveyed them all tersely, here eyebrows knitting together.

"What is this?" She demanded-of the officer at her elbow, not of the children themselves. Roy reached down and gently tapped on the glass, getting Will's attention, but also Green Arrow and Black Canary's. Both looked uncomfortable as the older man slipped out. He walked over to the woman.

"Elly-" He began, and something in his voice seemed to be pleading with her, but he was cut off sharply by one of the officers.

"It's not him." Will looked at the man in horror.

"What do you mean, it's-"

"We got his mask off. It's not him. It's not the Reaper." Sniper turned away, rubbing his forehead like he had a headache.

"It's not your fault, Will." They looked over, and found Green Arrow leaning in the doorway of the room. Both Artemis and Red Arrow started to say something about him sitting down, but Black Canary, at his shoulder, shook her head.

"I already _tried_." She told them tiredly. Will did not look at his brother.

"Not my fault? How could it _not_ be my fault?" He dropped his head into his hands, twining his fingers into his hair. "I _saw_ his face that day, GA. I should have _seen_, should have been able to _tell_..."

"Yes." Snapped Elly. "You should." She ignored Red Arrow's 'you're not helping look,' if she even saw it, preparing to continue. Will took several deep breaths, turning back to her.

"Elly, do we have to do this now?" Her shoulders snapped back.

"Oh? Are you trying to pin this on me? After what he _did_? After what you _let_ him do? Don't think I don't remember the whole thing. The _way_ he-"

"Elly!" Will cut her off. "There are children here!" She looked over at them like she was seeing them all for the first time, especially Robin, the smallest of the group. For a moment, her tight expression faltered, ands he actually smiled. It was like looking at a whole different woman, and Wally found himself ceasing to wonder why Will had married her in the first place.

"I'm sorry." The other woman said. "I didn't see you." And then the smile vanished like some sort of ghost, and the tightness was back. She turned on her high heel and stormed quickly out of the hospital, her ex-husband staring after her with a mixture of grief, wistfulness, and nostalgia on his face. A police officer quickly snapped him out of it.

"Mr. Queen." The man said quietly, as if hoping no one else would hear. "He-the man, that is-he's been asking to speak to you."

It was just a basic interrogation room, but the huge man was making no move to escape. Out of his mask and the darkness, he looked unbelievably ordinary. Just a large, bushy-haired man who needed a shave. He squinted up at Will when the latter entered the room, standing with his hands in his pockets in front of the two way mirror, and for a long moment, they stared at each other.

"You wanted to see me." Will said, finally. The man grinned.

"Just curious how your brother's doing." He said. "I'm pretty sure I broke at least his arm." Inside his sweatshirt, Sniper's arm visibly tensed. The man pretended to muse. "There _may_ have been a few ribs in there, too..."

"What. Do. You. _Want_." Will growled, working to keep his temper in check. Ever since the day he'd let his daughter down, he'd been touchy on the subject of family-especially as the elder. The man, knowing his advantage, but perhaps not his danger, chuckled.

"Actually, I wanted to deliver a message for you." Will shot a glance at the mirror behind him and rolled his eyes. On the other side, M'gann, Superman, Kaldur, Connor, and Dinah (standing in for Ollie after threatening to have the doctors dope him) all watched with different expressions. Connor just stayed blankly close to M'gann, while Superman and Black Canary had worried interest painted on their faces. Kaldur was eyeing the prisoner thoughtfully, as if trying to ascertain his plan.

"So, what's the message?"

"It comes from a mutual friend of ours. He wants you to know he's back in town. He's a bit surprised that your brother hooked up with that screechy chick-" (On the other side of the glass, Black Canary looked ruffled at the word 'screechy.') "-But he supposes he should have seen it coming." He leaned back in his chair. "And the red-head's all grown up now, ain't he? Off on his own and everything. The new girl's something, too. He's got a bit of a thing for blondes these days." Will's jaw was tensed so hard, it had to hurt. "Oh, there's nothing to worry about. He just wants a few kids to play with." The man grinned. "So how about you and Greenie keep a close eye on those two? You never know what kind of _trouble_ children can get into these days." Sniper's eyes were narrowing more with each moment. He leaned forward on the table, his voice furiously soft.

"If you go near _any_ of them..." The grin widened.

"Oh, _I_ won't be touching them." Sniper blinked, then suddenly understood what the man was getting at. He jerked back, shouting towards the mirror.

"Get the kids away from-"

And then the man exploded.

* * *

Charming ending, I know. Just imagine it... Well, it's actually kinda a nicer than the ending I have envisioned to this entire thing. A lot less descriptive. Thank you people who commented on me! And it's totally okay if you don't like Will-I find there's a lot to love and a lot to hate about him. For instance: he's a bit violent. This may not have become apparent yet, but believe me, it _will_ (no pun intended). But he's also a genuinely good-hearted guy who adores children. Go figure.


End file.
